Saturdays Protest - An Alternative?

[hibee19]

Firstly, could I ask that this isn't merged with the protest thread as I feel that this is a separate issue.

I have been one of the biggest supporters of the suggested protest but I've began to reconsider. I think there are more Hibs fans at the moment totally outraged with what has been happening to the club but this protest could be more likely to scupper our chance to influence change rather than cause it. Having a protest an hour before kick-off isn't going to sit well with some fans, some fans who likely support the general cause. The timing causes it to look negative and to a degree anti-Hibs. Also the lack of planning is a serious problem. Why are we protesting? What do we hope to achieve? What are the actual plans for Saturday? I think there's a lot of anger and that is merited but we should be channeling that anger in a way which we believe can influence change for the better. There are evidently a lot of fans against this protest and they are justified, if we go ahead with this protest we could alienate a large number of fans who actually would be generally in support if this had been better though through. If we take the time to think this through we could have larger numbers working together and would be much harder to ignore.

The issues are all perfectly understandable and do need to be addressed. My suggestion would be for as many of us as possible to e-mail Rod Petrie with our issues. The key point being what has gone wrong in these past 6 years and what does the board plan to do to change it. If we can get as many fans as possible to write to them and we will ask for a statement on the official site by the end of next month addressing the issues.

I know that what we have experienced recently has been hard to take and has seen many fans stay away but given how difficult we all know it would be to get rid of Rod lets give him and his board a chance to outline targets so we have something to judge them on. For all we know some of the issues may already be being dealt with behind closed doors, the ambition which we all have called for may be there but it needs to be communicated to the fans.

When we receive a response will be the time to discuss what action we as fans can take. Lets at least first know what we are protesting against. That will be the time to discuss protests against the board, fan buyouts of the Petries share etc.

If we consider what they have to say to be satisfactory we can allow time for targets to be met, but I'd suggest we as fans continue to look to take positive action wherever we can. If we are willing to have people within the club sacked for the good of the club we must also be willing to be pro-active in other ways. More people showing up to LWT meetings with positive ideas, more people volunteering to call lapsed season ticket holders looking to convince them to renew or at least find the reasons why they are not or simply just trying to convince as many of our Hibee friends to go along. There's been talk recently of the fact that we are the club, the employees of the club aren't the club. Lets prove that by taking positive action to help the club, not just negative action.

Finally, I'd ask those planning on protesting on Saturday to reconsider, not because change isn't needed but because of the reasons I outlined. Yes, we will often disagree but as much as we can we need to stand as one as Hibs fans. I don't believe that this is what is best for the club, so please at least have a think about it and do what you believe is right for Hibernian FC.



#WeAreHibernianFC

[B.H.F.C]

I agree. I am completely behind a protest but I think it needs to be done properly. There needs to be a common goal and those protesting need to be protesting for the same reasons.

Even if we win on Saturday the same problems will still exist so although I don't think the protest should be cancelled I do think it should be delayed and though through properly. A group of maybe 100 folk standing outside the main stand shouting abuse isn't going to achieve anything. Also, from what I've saw I think a hell of a lot more people would attend if this was to take place at a different time.

[hibee19]

I agree. I am completely behind a protest but I think it needs to be done properly. There needs to be a common goal and those protesting need to be protesting for the same reasons.

Even if we win on Saturday the same problems will still exist so although I don't think the protest should be cancelled I do think it should be delayed and though through properly. A group of maybe 100 folk standing outside the main stand shouting abuse isn't going to achieve anything. Also, from what I've saw I think a hell of a lot more people would attend if this was to take place at a different time.

The biggest problem is we don't have a common goal. Thats why I suggested writing to the chairman/board first. The biggest problem is we don't know what the problem is, we don't know what we're protesting about.

[rcarter1]

Getting my excuses in early, Ill be out the country. But whether or not it is well attended or not, a protest of this nature will send a message to Pat, Rod and the players. Good or bad, its a result of how people feel, and I think its a bit late in the day to worry one way or another about it happening.

However, I hope that in the coming weeks/months, we as supporters come to a consensus as to how to proceed. The club has been finding both results and entertainment hard to come by, a rather unpalatable mix. If we go on a run of five or six without a win, we really set ourselves for an implosion. If gates fall much more, I will be very interested (and worried) to see how RP and Sir TF make their next move.

[Moon unit]

The board or the Tache have......NO interest in what we fans have to say!
cosy fireside chats are of no value anymore...!
history proves that demonstrating has more bite than Luke warm diplomacy!

[WestStandMoaner]

The board or the Tache have......NO interest in what we fans have to say!
cosy fireside chats are of no value anymore...!
history proves that demonstrating has more bite than Luke warm diplomacy! I agree communicating with Rod and the Board is fine, but the problems and issues have been there for years now. The board will act if there is protesting, although it is obvious the fans are split on what is the best way forward, I do not think we should protest before the game but after, whether we win, lose or draw, but exactly what we are protesting against needs to be clear and I agree with Moon unit, Rod has never been interested in the fans, that is why he does not turn up at LWT meetings

[Saorsa]

That's no an alternative, that's doing nothing. Still you waste yer time firing off e-mails tae Petrie, I ken what answer you'll get, none.

[hibee19]

That's no an alternative, that's doing nothing. Still you waste yer time firing off e-mails tae Petrie, I ken what answer you'll get, none.

And if you get no answer then we have a reason to protest. This protest hasn't been planned whatsoever and not enough fans are backing it for that reason.

[Golden Bear]

And if you get no answer then we have a reason to protest. This protest hasn't been planned whatsoever and not enough fans are backing it for that reason.

Aye ok Rod. In this case your divide and conquer tactics will simply not work.

[hibee19]

Aye ok Rod. In this case your divide and conquer tactics will simply not work.

What exactly are my tactics? I initially agreed with the protest but its not been thought through at all. Some want rid of Fenlon, some want Rid of Petrie and some Farmer. Its an hour before kick off which is quite clearly unpopular with a large number of fans. We've sacked managers and not gotten any better, whos to say it would be any different with our chairman? Personally, I can't see Petrie taking us forward but we could put pressure on the board to tell us what their footballing targets are, whats went wrong the past 6 years and what do they intend to do to fix it. From where I'm sitting it doesn't look like they have any answers but the communication coming out of Easter Road is terrible.

I'm not the only one with an alternative, I'm sure others have their own ideas. The fact is less than 20 percent of our supporters on this forum support Saturdays protest but many, many more would like to see change in one way or another. I don't want to divide anyone, I would rather a majority of us worked together.

[blackpoolhibs]

Here's another alternative, we could all put our fingers in our ears and shout lalalalalalalalalalalalalalala.

I and others want Petrie out, some want Fenlon out others want both. It makes not a jot of difference to me, i want to show my displeasure at how the club is being run.

Now i could do it during the game, but that will apparently upset the players. I'm not sure how we'd know the difference, but thats another story.

If you want to protest on Saturday, then do it. If you dont, then dont.

Its as simple as that for me.

[hibee19]

Here's another alternative, we could all put our fingers in our ears and shout lalalalalalalalalalalalalalala.

I and others want Petrie out, some want Fenlon out others want both. It makes not a jot of difference to me, i want to show my displeasure at how the club is being run.

Now i could do it during the game, but that will apparently upset the players. I'm not sure how we'd know the difference, but thats another story.

If you want to protest on Saturday, then do it. If you dont, then dont.

Its as simple as that for me.

I want Petrie out but it seems near impossible to achieve that, I just don't think a protest thats pretty unpopular with a fair amount of our fans is the way to achieve that.

[Saorsa]

I want Petrie out but it seems near impossible to achieve that, I just don't think a protest thats pretty unpopular with a fair amount of our fans is the way to achieve that.How do you ken how popular/unpopular it is? The vast majority of Hibs fans dinnae even post on here and of those that do only 300 odd have bothered voting.

[hibee19]

How do you ken how popular/unpopular it is? The vast majority of Hibs fans dinnae even post on here and of those that do only 300 odd have bothered voting.

I can't tell you exactly how unpopular it is. I know the ideas not been overly popular on here or on the bounce. Going by that it would appear to be unpopular and thats what worries me. Maybe there are many other people planning to go along but I fear it'll be a pretty small crowd of protesters being heckled by fans making their way into the stadium. If I didn't think that would be case then I would definitely join in the protest.

[I'm_cabbaged]

I'm thinking there's a lot of RP apologists on this board and invitees to the cancelled meeting at it, divide and conquer :wink:

edit: never saw GB's post, simple minds :)

[hibee19]

I'm thinking there's a lot of RP apologists on this board and invitees to the cancelled meeting at it, divide and conquer :wink:

Who would these RP apologists be?